Google TV, coming to the UK next year

Google TV, which allows viewers to mix Web and television content on TV screens via a browser, has received lukewarm reviews and been blocked by the major U.S. networks since its launch in the United States in October.

Schmidt told the Edinburgh television festival its lack of success so far was partly because it was a feature designed into televisions, devices which consumers tend to replace only about once every five years.

It’s far too early to write Google TV off, despite its undoubted failures so far. And it shouldn’t be compared to Apple TV, which, I think, has been much more successful so far. The two things are very, very different: Google TV is an attempt to create a platform that lets content creators mix broadcast TV with the web and applications, while Apple TV is simply a (very useful) little box which lets you rent films and stream stuff to your TV from a variety of platforms. In a sense, Apple TV is mis-named: while it links to a TV, it’s not “TV” in the broadcast sense.